Hunter&#39;s belt



| .wmmwsrk Feb. 17, 1953 c. E. RYDEN HUNTER s BELT Filed May 22, 1950 Patented Feb. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application May 22, 1950, Serial No. 163,499

1 Claim. (01.22444) V This invention relates to means for'carrying killed fowl and has reference more particularly to a fowl carrying belt to be worn by the hunter and including means integral with the fowl carrying means for holding a quantity of cartridges.

"There are many types of cartridge belts, both of the military type and types used by hunters when hunting game or fowl. These various belts provide only for carrying shot gun shells or rifle cartridges; As distinguished therefrom, it is the principal object of my invention to provide a game belt that, in addition to roviding a practical, simple and effective means for carrying game, by suspendingjit from the belt, also provides a practical means whereby shells or cartridges may be held in readiness for use.

Another object of my invention is to provide a belt-whereon the'fowl carrying means is formed from a strip of resilient material and which, incident to its being formed or shaped for this purpose, is formed with cartridge holding loops. A further object of my invention is to provide a combination fowl and cartridge carrying belt which is light in weight, durable in use, extremely simple in its manner of construction and relatively inexpensive in its cost of manufacture. 3 In accomplishing these and other objects. of myinvention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a fowl and cartridge carrying belt which embodies my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged portion of the belt, showing a fowl as suspended therefrom and a cartridge as held between adjacent fowl holding means.

Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion of the fowl and cartridge carrying means.

Fig. 4 is a top view of the parts as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an alternative mode of securing the looped strip.

There are numerous separate devices and means which hunters use for carrying their cartridges and the fowl which they kill. The types of devices most commonly used for carrying cartridges, are the cartridge belt and/or pouch.

For carrying the killed fowl, it is common to use a bag or the pocket in the hunting jacket or to tie several birds together and throw'them over the shoulder. The device of my invention serves a dual purpose in that it provides a single means for carrying both the fowl and cartridges and in a manner which is convenient and which does not interfere with the hunters freedom of movement and shooting. Referring more in detail to the drawingse-a In Fig. 1, I have illustrated a belt Ill, designed to be worn about a hunters waist and provided with a conventional belt buckle II for its securement. The belt for most satisfactory results, should be at least one and one-half inches wide. It may be formed from. pliable, woven fabric or from softleather. The materials used or manner of construction of the belt per so are not features of my invention as it is only necessary that the belt be adapted to be comfortably worn about the waist. If desired, it could also be additionally supported by shoulder straps (not shown). Secured to the exterior or outer surface of the belt, longitudinallythereof, are relatively thin and resilient metal strips, each of which I have designated in its entirety by numeral I 5. Each strip is formed into a series of alternately reversely faced, open loops, a and a strip of flexible metal, such as spring steel; the

strip being approximately three-quarters of an inch in width and 1 s to /8 of an inch thick. Here again the dimensions of the strip and material of which it is made may be altered without departing from the spirit and teaching of my invention. If desired, the looped strips could be made from metals other than steel or from part metal and part leather or woven fabric.

I have illustrated the strips [5 secured to the belt ID by means of rivets I8, applied directly through the base portions of the outwardly opening sockets l6, however, any satisfactory means of securement could be used. Another means for securement of the strip has been shown in Fig. 5, wherein it is shown that the strip passes through belt loops l9 applied vertically across the outer face of belt 10. These loops are applied at the places where the rivets are applied in the device of Fig. 3. The position of the strips I 5 on the belt is such that when the belt is properly secured about the hunters waist, the strips will be at the wearers sides in a position above the hips.

As is best shown in Fig. 4, the loops of the strips that project outwardly from the belt ID are somewhat larger than the inwardly directed loops. The loops are all circularly curved. Re-

ferring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the loops of larger diameter, which face inwardly and provide the sockets I1, are designed to receive and carry the cartridge shells 20 and the loops of smaller diameter define the base portions of the outwardly opening sockets IS with restricted entrances I623, each designed to receive therein and retain the neck portion of killed fowl, such as that designated in Fig. 2 at 2!. The diameter of the loops a maybe varied as desired or required, depending upon the gauge of shell a particular hunter may use. A 12 gauge shot gun shell would require a diameter of inch; a 16 gauge shell requires a diameter of inch and a 20 gauge shell requires a diameter of %2;. The shells may be disposed in their receiving loops in the conventional manner. as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The distance between the cartridge holding loops a, may also be varied as desired or required. However, it has been determined that approximately of an inch spacing or gap is best adapted to receive and retain the fowls neck within the base portions of the outwardly opening loops b. It isrecommended that the diameter of these loops be to of an inch.

' With the strip I5 so formed and secured to belt H], a dual purpose belt is provided. To suspend the fowl from the belt, the neck of the fowl is passedthrough the entrance 16a: to socket l6 and caused to be seated within the socket and between loops a designed to carry the ,cartridges. The fowls neck maybe inserted or removed with slight effort and when so disposed the fowl will be suspended from its head and thus be securely and conveniently carried. v p v V As previously recited, the material from which the strips are formed should be resilientto cause a, spring clamping effect when encircling the fowls neck. Further, it is to be pointed out. that the loops preferably should not projectoutwardly from the belt more than one and one-half inches so as to not interferewith the wearers freedom of movement. It might also be desirable to have the fowl and cartridge carryin means on only the side of the belt which is opposite from the side on which the particular hunter carries his gun and from which he shoots. It may then be preferred or required that when the belt H1 is equipped with but one carrying strip, the strip could be somewhat longer. These and other modifications may be readily made without departing from the spirit or teachings of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- A cartridge and game holding means comprising a fiat flexible belt adapted to be fastened and worn about the waist of the wearer, and a strip of resilient metal extending longitudinally along the outer face of the belt and on at least one side of the wearer, the metal strip being formed into a succession of curved and reentrant curved loops providing a series of resilient oppositely opening transverse pockets to grip and hold articles therein, a number of the pockets opening inwardly toward the belt and the rest of the pockets being between each inwardly opening pocket and opening outwardly away from the belt, each loop having acircular portion of more than one hundred and eighty degrees in extent and being provided with a restricted opening comprising an entrance toeach pocket, the inwardly opening pockets being largerin are?v than the outwardly opening pockets, the inwardly opening pockets receiving and holdin cartridges while the outwardly opening pockets receive and hold game, the metal stripbeing secured to the belt at each end and at-the base of each outwardly opening pocket so thatthe resiliency of each respective pocket-isreliedupon to securely hold the cartridge and game placed therein.

CARL EDWIN RYDEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date 

